As is known, cutting machines for leather and similar materials have a layout area, on which contours are arranged by projection, a cutting area, with one or more cutting heads, and finally an area for unloading the cut parts.
The mentioned areas lie along a conveyor belt on which the parts to be cut are arranged.
However, currently there are limitations as to the depth of the layout and to the cutting areas.
In known solutions, the cutting area is covered by two cutting heads, each of which is mounted so as to be jointly connected to the end of a system of guides which slides, in a cantilever arrangement along a longitudinal direction Y, i.e., transversely to the advancement direction of the belt, within a carriage which moves along beams in the transverse direction X.
This structure has the advantage of leaving clear the portion of the cutting area that is not occupied in each instant by the heads, allowing to surmount it with the layout area, in order to allow the operator greater closeness and visibility of the cutting area, which are required in order to keep control over any breakages or operating problems which require prompt intervention in order to limit damage to the process or to the very working parts of the machine.
However, the force of the cutting head on the plane during cutting imparts a vertical force to the guides along the direction Y, which generates a flexing thereof which increases as the cantilever with which the heads work increases, consequently degrading the quality and continuity of the cutting action. For this reason, the depth of the cantilever, and accordingly of the cutting area, has been contained within a level at which such flexing is acceptable, setting however limitations to the maximum depth of the parts that can be cut in a single pass (without pickups, which can cause problems in realignment precision) and forcing frequent interruptions of the cutting action to perform the advancement of the belt, to the detriment of productivity.
In another known type of solution, the cutting heads move along the direction Y along guides which are supported substantially at both ends and are connected to carriages for movement along the direction X.
This solution has the advantage of not having cantilever elements and of thus being able to cover a greater depth of the cutting area, with the advantage of being able to cut deeper parts without pickups and of consequently reducing the number of interruptions of the cutting process for belt advancement, improving productivity.
However, the presence of guides which are supported at both ends constitutes a space occupation which prevents the projection from surmounting the cutting area significantly. Since in order to take advantage of the entire depth of the cutting area it is necessary to have a layout area which has at least the same depth, the operator is at a considerable distance from the cutting area, thus losing the possibility to monitor effectively the cutting operations, where occasional breakages of tools, lifting of the material et cetera can cause damage to the process or to the cutting unit proper, which must be remedied promptly.